This disclosure relates to mapping compound keys.
A key is information that identifies a collection of data for data processing activities performed in accordance with a set of machine-readable instructions. The identified data collection can be, e.g., an abstraction of a real-world entity such as a data object, a complex data structure, or a portion of a complex data structure. Examples of complex data structures include, e.g., records, arrays, tables, files, lists, and the like. Portions of complex data structures include, e.g., elements in an array, entries in a list, rows in a table, fields in a record, and the like.
Compound keys (also referred to as “composite keys” or “concatenated keys”) are keys that include of two or more components (also referred to as “attributes”) that together identify a data assembly. Compound key components are generally ordered. The identification provided by a key or a compound key is generally unambiguous, i.e., each identifier or key generally refers to a single data collection to the exclusion of all other data collections.
A key can include, e.g., a name or a value that identifies the data collection within an identification scheme, a scheme identifier that identifies a frame of reference in which it is possible to identify data collections, and an agency identifier that identifies the entity that defines the identification scheme and issues names for data collections within the identification scheme. Different applications, different modules, different data processing systems, different data processing system landscapes, and different public identification scheme entities (such as Dun & Bradstreet, which issues DUNS numbers, and GS1, which issues GTIN's) can use different agencies and/or schemes, and hence different keys, in referring to identical or related data collections.
When information regarding data collections is exchanged between such different entities, a process called key mapping can be used to translate keys. In general, key mapping involves accessing a key mapping database where keys used by a first set of processing activities are associated with keys used by a second set of processing activities. When information regarding data collections is exchanged, one of the sets of processing activities can access the key mapping database to translate the key from the source processing activities to the key in the destination processing activities.